Theodore Decker: Columbus' rocketing 2017 homicide toll more than the number

Theodore Decker The Columbus Dispatch @Theodore_Decker

Thursday

Oct 26, 2017 at 12:01 AMOct 26, 2017 at 6:29 AM

Pick a number, any number, from 1 to 108.

How about No. 1?

Columbus Homicide 2017-01 was an Ohio State University student, shot to death in his apartment in the University District on Jan. 5.

Tarak A. Underiner, 20, was a senior majoring in marketing and Spanish. He was from Cincinnati and a high school athlete. Police said his killing did not appear to be random and that drugs, guns and cash were found in his University District apartment.

Go ahead and choose another, perhaps Homicide 2017-28. David R. Nutt, 40, also was shot in January. He hung on for about two months, until his death in the hospital on March 27.

Nutt served in the Iraq war and came home a different person, his estranged wife said after his death. He was diagnosed with depression and PTSD, and he eventually turned to heroin to dull his pain, she said.

"He said he never felt normal," she told the Dispatch.

Nutt had given his cash card to a woman and went to her apartment to retrieve it, prosecutors said. She refused to return it, so he took her purse and started to walk away. She shot him as he left, prosecutors said. Her trial is pending.

This Wednesday was the 298th day of the year. There are 67 days left in 2017. If the current pace of killing keeps up, 2017 might close with 132 homicides. The city's record, which came in 1991 when Columbus was in the throes of the crack-cocaine epidemic, stands at 139.

Let's count.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ...

Darrin J. Rodia, 51, shot to death on Feb. 11 on the Far East Side. He lived with his parents, caring for them until their deaths. Police reported no motive or arrests.

11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 ...

Je'Ronn Hill, 26, shot to death on March 10 along with his older brother Je'Vohn, 27, who was Homicide 2017-19. Interviewed following a double homicide in 2012, Je'Vohn told the Dispatch his own future was uncertain.

"There's no opportunity out here," he said.

21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 ...

Police don't know her name, but she was probably in her 30s. Her severed legs were found in the trash at a South Side waste-collection center on March 28.

31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 ...

Jeannot Mendy, 32, shot to death on April 24. He was working on a motorcycle and killed in what might have been a robbery.

41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 ...

D'Ante M. Smith, 15, shot to death on May 11 in a North Linden alley. Police reported no motive or arrests.

51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 ...

Domineek Sharp, 21, killed on June 17 in a shooting at a North Side club that left four others wounded.

61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 ...

Damon Waddell, 19, shot on July 9 in a car in North Linden.

71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 ...

Deshawn L. Marable, 27, shot on Aug. 10 on the South Side.

81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 ...

Lavan T. Davis, 24, shot on Sept. 3 on the East Side, in view of his 3-year-old nephew.

91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 ...

Ulrich M. Smith, 42, found shot on Oct. 10 on an East Side street. He had gotten off a COTA bus, stopped at a carryout, and continued on what should have been a short walk home.

101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108.

The last five happened this week.

It can be numbing, all these numbers. But don't pretend this is just a numbers game.

tdecker@dispatch.com

@Theodore_Decker

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